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Social  Service  Series 


A  Reasonable  Social 
Policy  for  Christian 

P  eOple  Henderson 


The  Interest  of  Each 
Is  the  Concern  of  All 


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AMERICAN  BAPTIST  PUBLICATION  SOCIETY 

1701-1703  CHESTNUT  STREET 
PHILADELPHIA 


Social  Service  Series — No.  1,  Division  3 


A 

Reasonable  Social  Policy 
for  Christian  People 


Charles  R.  Henderson,  Ph.  D. 


Professor  of  Sociology 
in  the 

University  of  Chicago 


Published  for  the  Social  Service  Committee 
of  the  Northern  Baptist  Convention 


American  Baptist  Publication  Society 

Philadelphia 

Boston  Chicago  St.  Louis 

Atlanta  Dallas 


Copyright  1909  by 
A.  J.  ROWLAND,  Secretary 


Published  May,  1909 


A  REASONABLE  SOCIAL  POLICY 
FOR  CHRISTIAN  PEOPLE 


This  discussion  takes  for  granted  that  the  readers 
are  Christians  at  heart,  and  that  they  sincerely  pray 
“  Thy  kingdom  come,  Thy  will  be  done.”  The  pul¬ 
pit  and  public  worship  have  prepared  the  spirits  of 
millions  for  hearing  a  sober  call  to  specific  forms 
of  human  service.  The  church  is  conservative  by 
instinct,  and  is  not  open  to  revolutionary  visions. 
Its  membership  almost  universally  respects  the  his¬ 
toric  institutions  of  private  property,  constitutional 
government,  monogamic  marriage,  and  peaceful 
methods  of  progress.  To  such  minds  this  out¬ 
line  of  a  social  policy  is  fraternally  offered  for  con¬ 
sideration. 

The  church  is  not  asked  to  vote  or  pass  resolu¬ 
tions  on  its  propositions,  or  to  take  sides  in  disputes 
between  employers  and  employed,  or  to  declare  any 
group  schismatic  or  heretical  which  opposes  them, 

3 


4 


Social  Service  Series 


or  to  identify  itself  with  any  programme,  or  bill  for 
a  law  or  party;  but  only  to  give  an  opportunity, 
especially  to  younger  men,  to  consider  the  new  view 
of  social  obligations  so  that  each  individual  can  do 
his  own  duty  with  enlightened  understanding. 

There  are  eternal  principles  of  justice,  reason,  and 
love  which  never  change ;  they  are  of  the  very 
nature  of  God,  and  are  written  very  deep  in  human 
souls.  These  principles  shine  out  in  our  sacred 
Scriptures  in  the  biographies  of  saints  and  heroes,  in 
the  divine  process  of  national  education,  and  su¬ 
premely,  in  the  story  of  Jesus  our  Lord  and  Saviour. 
The  sun  of  righteousness  rose  to  the  zenith  in  those 
dark  hours  when  Jesus  died  upon  the  cross  for  man¬ 
kind.  Beyond  that  the  revelation  of  love  could 
never  go.  His  own  word  was,  “  It  is  finished.” 
The  artist  of  holiness  gave  the  last  touch  to  a  perfect 
picture. 

But  the  life  of  Christ  is  continuous.  The  stream 
of  goodness  is  a  widening  river  whose  fountain  is 
his  throne.  God  is  ever  shifting  the  conditions  of 
life.  Duty  is  the  conduct  required  in  a  particular 
time  and  land  and  group,  and  it  cannot  be  foretold 
or  written  once  for  all  in  a  book;  we  need  divine 
guidance  on  every  question  and  wisdom  from  on 


Ji  Reasonable  Social  Policy 


5 


high  for  every  new  work.  As  truly  as  did  Abraham 
must  each  generation  of  young  Christians  go  into  a 
new  land  never  seen  before  by  mortals;  they  must 
go  out  not  knowing  whither  they  journey,  knowing 
only  that  God  is  Friend  and  Guide. 

The  Holy  Spirit  is  given  us  by  promise  to  lead  us 
into  all  truth;  and  his  method  is  one  of  wisdom, 
and  is  called  among  men  the  scientific  method.  This 
method  is  inspired  by  love  of  truth,  and  has  no 
other  end.  It  searches  for  facts  of  experience,  for 
their  tendency  and  meaning,  and  for  the  best  way  of 
utilizing  them  for  human  welfare. 

I.  The  individualistic  bias  and  presumption  in 
America. 

Any  person  who  attempts  to  promote  a  common 
effort  to  improve  human  life  by  law  finds  himself 
in  the  chill  atmosphere  of  an  inherited  prejudice 
which  envelops  law,  ethics,  and  theology. 

This  country  was  settled  by  isolated  farmers,  and 
perhaps  a  majority  of  families  still  live  in  isolated 
dwellings  without  the  habit  of  co-operation  with 
large  groups.  Each  man  works  alone  and  turns  his 
hand  to  a  great  variety  of  tasks. 

In  frontier  days  each  farmer  carried  his  own  rifle 


6 


Social  Service  Series 


and  defended  himself  against  Indians;  only  in 
urgent  necessity  did  he  join  a  company  or  army, 
and  this  he  quit  as  soon  as  possible.  Washington’s 
soldiers,  at  Braddock’s  Ford,  imitated  the  Indian 
style,  and  each  man,  protected  by  a  tree,  picked  out 
his  Indian  for  a  well-aimed  shot.  Thus  our  fore¬ 
bears  plowed  and  killed  as  individualists,  and  they 
could  have  done  no  other. 

Furthermore,  our  American  ancestors  were  strug¬ 
gling  to  break  the  shackles  of  tyranny  in  Church, 
in  State,  in  business.  They  built  up  their  laws  and 
governments  and  institutions  in  the  eighteenth  cen¬ 
tury,  when  all  were  demanding  liberty  from  clergy, 
feudal  lords,  and  kings.  Men  really  believed  that 
freedom  was  the  one  thing  needful ;  that  each  man, 
in  following  his  own  interest,  would  serve  mankind 
wisely  and  effectively.  Each  man  wished  to  be  left 
alone,  and  claimed  the  same  right  for  all.  Under 
the  circumstances  of  that  age  it  was  a  seductive 
creed,  and  strong  men  liked  it ;  some  grew  rich 
and  more  powerful  by  means  of  it.  They  made  it 
the  basis  of  our  constitution,  and  judges  interpreted 
statutes  according  to  it. 

Then  the  theology  and  popular  sermons  of  the 
church  were  dominated  by  the  same  individualistic 


Jl  Reasonable  Social  Policy 


7 


bias  and  prejudice,  for  theologians  are  children  of 
their  age.  Emphasis  was  laid  upon  one  aspect  of 
religious  truth,  the  individual  soul,  individual  duty, 
individual  responsibility,  individual  peril,  individual 
salvation.  They  proclaimed  and  urged  a  truth,  but 
it  was  not  all  the  truth,  and  one  side  of  the  sun  was 
eclipsed  in  their  teaching.  There  was  good  in  all 
this  tendency,  an  element  which  the  world  can  never 
afford  to  lose  or  forget.  In  industry  there  was 
wonderful  initiative,  in  business  immense  energy, 
in  religion  intense  fervor  and  zeal ;  and  these  are 
qualities  we  must  keep  while  we  go  on  to  the  larger 
view.  But  “  the  good  is  often  enemy  of  the  best/’ 
Individualism  unmodified  by  altruism  becomes  self¬ 
ish  ;  egotism  masks  itself  under  the  disguise  of 
liberty;  and  in  pursuit  of  one’s  own  salvation  one 
is  in  danger  of  leaving  his  brethren  in  an  earthly 
inferno.  And  this  happened  in  industry.  States¬ 
men  made  an  idol  of  an  abstract  theory,  and  it 
resembled  a  Moloch,  to  whom  they  sacrificed  chil¬ 
dren,  defenseless  women,  and  oppressed  men. 

II.  We  live  in  an  era  of  corporations 

What  individual  could  carry  out  a  scheme  of 
transcontinental  railways  or  intercontinental  steam- 


8 


Social  Service  Series 


ship  lines  ?  The  petty  shopkeeper’s  notions  of  barter 
are  not  large  enough  to  meet  the  demand  of  the 
world-wide  commerce.  The  movement  toward  com¬ 
binations  is  not  the  work  of  noisy  agitators,  but  is 
the  current  of  destiny. 

The  concentration  of  capital  about  huge  mills  and 
factories,  with  costly  machines  driven  by  steam  and 
electricity,  is  not  a  human  invention,  but  a  demand 
of  human  need  and  reason;  that  method  alone  sup¬ 
plies  the  wants  of  men  at  least  sacrifice.  Every 
buyer  seeks  the  place  which  sells  the  desired  goods 
at  the  lowest  price,  and  this  search  always  discovers 
a  merchant  who  buys  of  the  most  efficient  manu¬ 
facturer  with  vast  capital.  The  “  captains  of  in¬ 
dustry,”  responding  to  the  requirements  to  pro¬ 
duce  commodities  cheaply,  bring  wage-earners 
together  in  masses.  It  is  not  the  labor  agitator,  it  is 
the  business  manager  who  first  lifts  his  trumpet  to 
call  workmen  into  assemblies. 

The  manufacturer,  in  order  to  transport  his  goods 
to  the  merchant  and  consumer  at  the  lowest  cost, 
asks  for  cheap  and  swift  methods  of  transportation, 
and  offers  to  pay  for  the  service.  The  response 
is  seen  in  railway,  steamship,  telegraph,  telephone, 
and  express  corporations.  It  all  goes  back  to  the 


yl  Reasonable  Social  Policy 


9 


shoppers  and  their  insistence  on  goods  at  least 
sacrifice.  The  bargain  counter  commands  union  of 
efforts. 

Politically,  the  war  for  the  Union  cemented 
States  into  a  nation,  the  most  magnificent  and  power¬ 
ful  “  trust  ”  on  earth,  above  all  other  combinations 
in  authority  and  power. 

Ethically  and  religiously  we  are  passing  up  and 
away  from  theories  of  selfish  fear  into  the  purer 
air  and  loftier  view  of  a  divine  patriotism,  a  uni¬ 
versal  brotherhood,  a  justice  which  knows  no  class 
barriers.  We  are  trying  to  rediscover  our  social 
gospel — the  gospel  of  the  kingdom  of  God — and 
now  multitudes  are  prepared  to  inquire  what  that 
kingdom  means  to  a  voter,  here  and  now.  What 
the  foreign  mission  enterprise  is  extensively,  char¬ 
ity  and  social  legislation  are  intensively  and  at 
home. 

III.  While  the  souls  of  the  generous  and  just  have 
become  expectant  of  this  coming  of  the  Lord  in 
power  and  glory ,  a  bitter  cry  ascends  from  the 
wage-earners. 

There  is  grim  determination  expressed  in  the 
demand  for  a  social  policy.  This  demand  is  not 


10 


Social  Service  Series 


artificial,  but  a  natural  product  of  our  situation. 
What  are  the  vital  facts  of  this  situation  ? 

1.  The  semi-dependent  position  of  the  wage- 
earners.  Once  the  worker  tilled  his  own  land, 
owned  his  tools,  controlled  his  surroundings;  now 
the  capital  is  owned  by  a  powerful  syndicate ;  the 
raw  materials  he  handles  are  not  owned  by  the 
manipulator ;  the  profits  belong  to  another ;  the  rule 
of  the  shop  is  made  by  the  manager.  The  manager 
holds  over  each  individual  employee  the  power  of 
life  or  death — employment  on  the  terms  of  the  em¬ 
ployer,  or  starvation.  In  this  situation,  the  pretense 
that  the  workman  is  “  free  ”  to  make  or  decline  the 
terms  offered  by  the  master  of  his  fate  is  hypocritical 
mockery.  He  is  not  free ;  he  must  do  as  he  is 
ordered.  “  Free  contract  ”  does  not  actually  exist 
when  a  manager  can  dictate  terms  to  a  hungry  man 
with  children  asking  for  bread. 

2.  The  social  need  is  written  in  the  fact  that  the 
neglected  degenerating  class  is  a  menace  to  the 
wealth,  the  vigor,  the  character  of  the  common¬ 
wealth  and  nation.  Capital  decays  unless  the  laborer 
has  energy  to  make  it  multiply.  Diseases  start  in 
unfit  dwellings,  but  spread  to  mansions.  Victims 
of  temptation  in  poverty  become  the  temptresses  of 


Jl  Reasonable  Social  Policy  1 1 

sons  of  wealth.  The  winds  of  heaven  carry  flies 
with  germs  of  typhoid  from  the  cesspools  of  the 
neglected  slums  to  the  lips  of  innocent  children  on 
the  boulevards.  We  cannot  afford  to  have  diseased, 
tempted,  ignorant,  base,  angry  multitudes  in  a 
republic. 

3.  The  growing  and  rising  industrial  multitudes 
are  in  our  times  awake ;  they  can  read ;  they  are 
becoming  conscious  of  their  power  in  our  cities; 
they  are  often  in  a  majority;  they  are  disposed  to 
take  care  of  themselves,  and  many  of  them  believe 
that  they  cannot  look  for  help  to  others.  Is  it  safe 
to  leave  such  a  vast  class  to  care  for  its  own  interests 
without  help  from  law? 

There  is  the  ever-imminent  danger  that  the 
trade  unions,  hoping  for  no  aid  from  law,  will  help 
themselves  by  anti-social  means — the  boycott,  the 
strike,  the  picketing — all  words  expressive  of  battle 
and  hate,  all  stirring  hot  blood.  Of  course,  anti¬ 
social  methods  must  be  suppressed,  and  we  have  the 
injunction,  the  police,  the  militia,  the  federal  troops, 
at  the  sight  of  whom  feelings  of  rebellion  are 
aroused  and  hate  intensified. 

There  is  danger  in  certain  arguments  and  slogans 
of  the  Socialists,  as  in  their  appeal  to  the  “  class 


12 


Social  Service  Series 


consciousness,”  in  their  call  to  “  crush  the  oppres¬ 
sors.”  Not  all  the  doctrines  of  socialism  are  vi¬ 
cious;  many  of  their  criticisms  are  true  and  just; 
some  of  their  constructive  suggestions  have  been 
wise ;  but  this  appeal  to  “  class  consciousness  ”  is 
the  forerunner  of  revolt,  a  call  to  arms,  the  insti¬ 
gator  of  inhuman  passions.  We  believe  in  a  justice 
which  knows  no  class,  a  fellowship  of  mankind; 
and,  therefore,  we  believe  that  a  partisan  watchword 
may  become  deadly.  Yet  if  we  do  nothing  but 
criticize,  restrict,  control,  punish,  can  we  expect  any 
real  reverence  for  the  law? 

IV.  The  fundamental  principle  of  a  Social  Policy 
is  the  co-operation  of  all  for  the  welfare 
of  all. 

i.  A  social  policy  is  not  based  on  class  privileges, 
nor  does  it  ask  for  special  advantages  to  a  particular 
group.  “  Class  legislation  ”  is  distinctly  unconsti¬ 
tutional,  and  ought  to  be.  It  is  neither  necessary 
nor  fair  to  rob  a  few  fortunate  persons  to  enlarge 
the  incomes  of  the  lazy.  Charity  is  for  the  relief  of 
a  comparatively  few  and  exceptional  cases  and  can¬ 
not  be  relied  on  for  the  support  of  any  considerable 
group  of  the  population. 


j4  Reasonable  Social  Policy 


13 


2.  The  community,  in  a  social  policy,  identifies 
itself  with  all  its  members.  The  eye,  the  hand,  the 
foot,  the  teeth  are  joined  in  one  nervous  system ;  an 
injury  to  one  member  is  felt  as  pain  by  all.  No 
commonwealth  is  rich  while  a  multitude  remain  in 
abject  misery.  A  look  into  the  fiery  pit  does  not 
enhance  the  joy  of  heaven  for  any  person  fit  to  be 
in  heaven.  When  the  multitude  despise  art  no 
artistic  work  is  secure.  Only  when  the  people  are 
all  intelligent  is  science  safe  in  the  universities. 

Our  venerated  parents  who  struggled  to  es¬ 
tablish  free  schools  were  able  to  educate  their 
own  children  in  private  schools ;  but  they  could 
not  bear  to  see  their  poorer  and  less  intelligent 
neighbors  left  to  their  own  ignorance  and  spiritual 
night. 

3.  There  must  be  found  a  legal  way  to  protect  the 
rights  and  promote  the  interests  of  all.  We  must 
train  men  to  look  to  the  law  as  their  constant  friend, 
not  their  foe,  not  a  mere  club  of  repression. 

V.  What  is  the  programme  of  a  reasonable  Social 
Policy f 

We  must  make  a  selection  and  restrict  the  pres¬ 
ent  brief  outline  to  a  few  illustrations.  We  can 


14 


Social  Service  Series 


merely  hint  at  solutions  of  vast  problems  of  supreme 
moment. 

I.  Such  a  policy  must  include  a  programme  for 
the  promotion  of  public  health,  and  especially  the 
physical  integrity  and  efficiency  of  the  semi-depend¬ 
ent,  the  wage-earners,  and  their  families. 

( 1 )  We  must  begin  with  little  children  and  rescue 
them  by  law  from  exploitation  in  mines,  mills, 
quarries,  factories,  shops.  The  banner  carried  by 
the  National  Child  Labor  Committee  leads  the  way 
for  a  holy  crusade.  The  feeble  little  workers  are 
victims  of  their  own  inexperience,  of  the  ignorance 
of  their  parents,  of  the  greed  of  unscrupulous  and 
unenlightened  employers,  and  of  the  wicked  neglect 
of  a  Christian  people. 

(2)  The  nation  must  regard  the  working  women 
as  its  care.  They  have  no  votes ;  they  have  no  access 
to  the  public  press ;  they  are  poor,  and  feel  the  spur 
of  poverty.  All  honor  to  those  who  in  dire  stress 
of  hunger  repel  the  temptation  to  gilded  pleasure 
and  remain  constant  to  their  womanly  ideals !  What 
can  so  properly  be  invoked  for  the  defense  of  these 
women  as  majestic,  chivalrous  law? 

The  domestic  employees,  too  generally  and  snob¬ 
bishly  called  “  servants,”  constitute  a  class  of  wage- 


Jl  Reasonable  Social  Policy 


15 


earners  who  have  been  too  much  neglected  by  Chris¬ 
tian  people.  They  need  the  protection  of  law  against 
the  abuses  of  the  ordinary  employment  bureau,  and 
it  would  be  well  to  erect  special  municipal  offices  for 
their  accommodations.  Their  lowly  and  isolated 
life  is  exposed  to  endless  temptations,  and  they  are 
often  driven  to  public  dance  halls  for  their  necessary 
opportunities  of  social  enjoyment  and  acquaintance 
with  men.  The  heads  of  families  are  notoriously 
suffering  the  penalty  of  long  neglect.  The  happi¬ 
ness  and  health  of  families  and  the  character  of 
children  are  profoundly  affected  by  the  household 
employees,  and  their  training  and  surroundings 
should,  therefore,  be  a  theme  for  thought  by  the 
church. 

Another  group  of  wage-earners  in  our  cities 
deserves  special  consideration — the  girls  in  factories, 
mills,  and  mercantile  establishments.  They  need 
the  protection  of  law  against  the  exploitation  of 
unscrupulous  employers.  When  they  are  homeless 
and  friendless  they  require  better  surroundings  than 
are  furnished  in  lodging  and  boarding-houses.  In 
many  cases  the  wages  paid  for  exhausting  toil  will 
not  keep  soul  and  body  together,  and  this  situation 
in  a  strange  city  is  unspeakably  perilous. 


16 


Social  Service  Series 


We  must  learn  by  careful  study,  by  observation  of 
men  working  under  varied  conditions,  by  consult¬ 
ing  physicians  who  practise  among  wage-workers, 
and  visiting  nurses  familiar  with  their  home  sur¬ 
roundings  what  are  the  causes  of  sickness  and 
wounds  and  death.  It  is  the  duty  of  Christian  men 
who  profess  to  be  patriotic  to  study  the  factory  in¬ 
spectors’  reports  and  learn  how  defective  our  pro¬ 
tective  laws  are  as  compared  with  those  of  older 
civilized  lands.  The  history  of  industry  proves  that 
employers  need  to  be  taught  how  to  save  the  life  and 
limbs  of  their  employees,  and  they  ever  require  the 
compelling  pressure  of  inspection  and  penalties  to 
secure  their  observance  of  the  legal  requirements. 
A  factory  law  not  enforced  by  a  sufficient  corps  of 
inspectors,  is  a  wicked  mockery  instead  of  justice. 
Law  sets  a  standard  and  educates  the  conscience  of 
the  masters  of  men. 

A  reasonable  social  policy  will  include  modern 
regulation  of  the  condition  of  family  dwellings 
among  working  people.  The  rich  and  comfortable 
class  can  protect  themselves  ;  can  build  or  rent  homes 
which  meet  hygienic  requirements.  But  multitudes 
of  wage-earners  are  compelled  to  live  near  the 
mines  or  mills  when  they  are  employed  long  hours ; 


ji  Reasonable  Social  Policy  17 

they  may  be  turned  out  if  they  complain;  and  they 
have  no  means  of  protecting  themselves,  even  if 
they  know  the  evils  of  unwholesome  houses. 

A  community  owes  it  to  the  artisans  and  the 
laborers  to  guarantee  that  every  dwelling  shall  have 
light,  air,  sufficient  space  and  privacy,  sewerage, 
and  bath,  and  not  be  overcrowded.  This  it  can  do 
by  inspection  of  dwellings,  by  condemnation  of 
houses  unfit  for  human  habitation,  and  by  build¬ 
ing  decent  houses  for  rent,  if  landlords  fail  to  pro¬ 
vide  a  sufficient  number  of  tenements  of  proper 
standard. 

The  opportunity  to  work  for  wages  is  not  always 
furnished  by  the  community.  It  is  not  true  that  an 
honest  and  industrious  man  can  find  employment 
at  any  time.  Many  a  strong  and  willing  man  has 
been  transformed  into  a  hopeless  vagrant  by  the 
necessity  of  begging  his  way  along  the  road  to  find 
occupation.  There  are  difficulties  in  the  way  of 
finding  where  the  employers  need  labor,  even  when 
there  is  a  local  demand.  Many  of  the  employment 
bureaus  are  directed  by  unscrupulous  men,  who 
take  fees  but  do  not  furnish  work.  Immigrants, 
ignorant  of  our  language  and  customs  and  in¬ 
dustries,  are  especially  exposed  to  peril.  Hence  we 


/  S  Social  Service  Series 

must  study  and  act  in  relation  to  the  best  methods 
of  guiding  idle  workmen  to  places  where  reward 
is  waiting  for  the  worker. 

The  rights  of  the  wage-earners  to  organize  them¬ 
selves  into  associations  for  mutual  benefit  is  as 
clear  as  the  right  of  employers  to  form  corporations 
for  personal  benefits.  This  is  conceded  now  by  the 
moral  judgment  of  all  civilized  nations  and  is  recog¬ 
nized  by  law.  That  men  abuse  this  right  is  not  an 
argument  that  should  create  prejudice  against  as¬ 
sociations,  unions,  or  corporations  as  such,  but  is 
simply  a  reason  for  guarding  against  perversions  by 
legal  enactments  and  judicial  decisions.  Part  of  a 
modern  social  policy  will  include  a  sane  and  sym¬ 
pathetic  attitude  of  religious  people  to  the  trade 
union  and  a  system  of  regulation  which  will  con¬ 
serve  the  advantages  and  rebuke  the  abuses  of  such 
powerful  agencies. 

A  reasonable  social  policy  will  seek  to  secure  for 
every  wage-worker  an  assured  income  in  times 
when,  from  no  fault  of  his  own,  he  is  unemployed 
and  deprived  of  means  of  support.  Such  times  are 
sickness,  disablement  from  accident,  prolonged 
invalidism,  the  feebleness  of  old  age,  death,  and  the 
weeks  or  months  when  establishments  are  closed. 


ji  Reasonable  Social  Policy 


19 


It  is  true  that  a  savings  fund  will  provide  some¬ 
thing  for  such  periods ;  but  experience  has  shown 
that  the  ordinary  laborer’s  wages  are  too  small  to 
leave  much  margin  for  savings,  and  that  the  largest 
sum  he  can  gather  in  twenty  years  is  swallowed  up 
within  a  few  months  of  sickness. 

A  more  reliable,  quick,  and  economical  method  of 
providing  a  steady  inflow  of  money  during  such 
periods  of  enforced  incapacity  for  labor  is  indus¬ 
trial  insurance.  It  is  strange  that  a  system  so  rea¬ 
sonable  and  effective  in  all  the  other  great  nations 
of  Christendom  should  not  be  understood  or  appre¬ 
ciated  in  America.  Perhaps  we  are  not  so  superior 
in  mental  quickness  or  alertness  as  our  Fourth  of 
July  orators  try  to  make  us  believe.  Perhaps  our 
individualistic  philosophy  and  traditions  have  been 
an  opiate  to  our  consciences  and  made  them  sleepy. 
At  any  rate,  until  quite  recently  there  was  little  in¬ 
quiry  for  information  on  the  subject.  After  long 
waiting  there  seems  to  be  some  public  interest  in  a 
neglected  means  of  preventing  untold  and  incal¬ 
culable  misery  in  countless  homes.  The  principles 
of  insurance  involved  are  few  and  simple,  although 
in  drawing  up  laws,  establishing  rates,  and  organi¬ 
zing  administration,  experts  must  be  employed.  All 


20 


Social  Service  Series 


intelligent  persons  know  that  it  is  ruinous  to  neglect 
fire  insurance  and  life  insurance.  Many  persons 
know  that  bonds  can  be  bought  of  fidelity  companies 
which  secure  payments  of  losses  due  to  occasional 
dishonesty.  By  the  payment  of  a  small  sum  by  all 
owners  of  houses  and  goods,  those  few  who  are  hurt 
by  fire  can  receive  an  indemnity  which  enables  them 
to  rebuild  and  start  again  in  home  or  shop.  The 
blow  Hurts,  but  does  not  kill.  So  also  no  man  knows 
when  he  will  die,  but  he  knows  that  he  must  some 
day  die — it  may  be  to-morrow.  By  paying  a  small 
premium  to  a  strong  company  one  buys  a  legal  right 
for  his  family  to  receive  a  large  sum  even  the  next 
week,  in  case  of  his  death,  and  so  they  feel  secure. 
In  a  similar  way  wage-workers  can  be  guaranteed  a 
payment  of  income  during  illness  or  old  age  when 
they  cannot  work.  The  principle  is  now  generally 
accepted  by  all  those  who  have  given  serious  at¬ 
tention  to  the  subject  that  so  far  as  the  business 
causes  injury  to  a  workman  the  loss  occasioned  by 
that  injury  should  be  paid  for  out  of  the  product  of 
the  business,  whether  it  be  a  wound,  mutilation, 
sickness,  or  death.  It  is  not  fair  for  the  public 
which  enjoys  the  cheapened  products  of  the  machine 
manufacture  to  shirk  the  cost  of  production.  Part 


j4  Reasonable  Social  Policy 


21 


of  the  cost  of  producing  food,  fuel,  clothing,  houses 
is  this  injury  suffered  by  workmen. 

The  method  of  equalizing  or  distributing  this  cost 
is  by  requiring  the  employer  to  set  apart  a  certain 
sum  each  day  for  each  employee,  to  create  a  fund  for 
paying  him  income  during  his  incapacity  resulting 
from  the  work.  Every  prudent  manufacturer  sets 
aside  a  sum  every  year  for  the  repair  or  renewal  of 
tools,  machines,  and  buildings,  and  he  regards  this 
as  part  of  the  cost  of  production.  When  he  esti¬ 
mates  the  price  to  be  charged  customers,  he  counts 
this  cost  of  repairs  and  renewal  in  the  price  of  sale, 
and  so  in  the  end  the  consumers  who  enjoy  the 
goods  pay  for  the  worn-out  or  broken  tools,  ma¬ 
chines,  and  shop  buildings.  We  now  see  that  the 
employer  ought  to  estimate  the  loss  of  time  and 
energy  of  workmen  as  part  of  the  cost  of  producing 
goods,  buy  insurance  to  cover  this  cost,  and  charge 
the  amount  in  the  price  charged  customers  and 
consumers.  Thus  the  loss  would  be  easily  borne, 
being  widely  distributed  and  paid  in  very  small 
additions  to  the  prices  of  goods  by  the  millions 
of  consumers,  many  of  whom  are  the  workmen 
themselves. 

Since  part  of  the  cause  of  sickness  and  death  is 


22 


Social  Service  Series 


found  in  the  conduct  of  the  workmen  or  in  general 
conditions  outside  of  the  industry,  it  seems  fair  to 
require  the  wage-earners  to  contribute  to  the  in¬ 
surance  premiums  and  to  ask  the  general  public  also 
to  add  a  reasonable  sum  from  taxes. 

Such  a  vast  system  could  not  be  organized  and 
carried  through  by  private  companies.  It  can  be 
done  only  by  legal  methods  and  by  the  adminis¬ 
trative  machinery  of  city,  commonwealth,  and  na¬ 
tion.  The  federal  government  has  already  enacted  a 
law  which  guarantees  compensation  for  certain 
classes  of  its  own  employees.  But  Congress  has  no 
power  to  make  other  employers  insure  their  em¬ 
ployees;  this  is  left  to  the  legislatures  of  different 
States  under  our  constitution.  These  legislatures 
never  act;  indeed,  they  cannot  act,  until  there  is  a 
general  and  aggressive  demand  from  the  voters. 
Therefore,  our  first  duty,  as  a  Christian  people,  is 
to  urge  upon  our  representatives  in  the  various 
State  legislatures,  the  appointment  of  strong  and 
active  commissions  to  study  this  question  and  bring 
in  well-considered  laws  for  the  alleviation  of  the 
suffering  caused  by  past  errors  and  neglect.  When 
we  consider  how  many  persons  and  families  are 
hungry,  cold,  or  dying  in  poor-houses  because  of 


j4  Reasonable  Social  Policy 


23 


our  long  neglect,  we  can  see  that  our  action  should 
be  prompt. 

No  reliable  method  has  as  yet  been  found  for 
insuring  income  in  case  of  enforced  unemployment. 
The  trade  unions,  through  their  out-of-work  benefits, 
help  many  workmen ;  but  this  is  confined  to  a  limited 
number.  The  experiments  of  cities  with  the  col¬ 
lection  of  premiums  from  workmen  for  the  creation 
of  a  fund  for  seasons  of  unemployment  have  thus 
far  failed  of  their  purpose,  or  only  partly  succeeded. 
A  postal  savings  system,  supplemented  by  local  mis¬ 
sionary  effort  to  promote  thrift,  would  help  to  some 
extent  to  relieve  the  situation. 

One  of  the  most  pressing  needs  of  the  industrial 
group  is  cheap,  swift,  and  reliable  justice.  When 
men  must  wait  long  years,  and  pay  lawyers’  heavy 
fees  and  court  costs,  and  be  bandied  about  from 
place  to  place,  and  lost  in  an  unintelligible  jargon  of 
antiquated  technicalities,  they  are  educated  to  hate 
law  and  government  and  distrust  the  whole  political 
arrangement  of  society.  They  see  that  rich  men  can 
carry  on  litigation  and  employ  the  best  legal  talent, 
while  they  despair  in  case  of  appeal  to  a  higher 
court,  and  often  are  defrauded  because  their  lawyers 
are  incompetent. 


24 


Social  Service  Series 


Justice  and  social  security  demand  that  all  cases 
of  disputes  between  workmen,  or  between  employers 
and  employed,  should  be  decided  without  compli¬ 
cated  process,  in  special  industrial  courts,  such  as 
those  which  France,  Germany,  and  other  countries 
have  long  enjoyed.  In  these  courts  the  matter  in 
dispute  is  presented  in  plain  language  and  a  judg¬ 
ment  is  rendered  without  costs,  and  parties  go  back 
to  work  without  rancor  or  suspicion.  Canada  has 
a  law  that  provides  that  before  a  strike  occurs  the 
parties  in  dispute  shall  repair  to  a  commission  which 
hears  the  arguments  and  seeks  to  reconcile  the  an¬ 
tagonists  before  they  are  arrayed  in  open  warfare. 

A  reasonable  social  policy  to  be  advocated  by 
Christian  men  will  include  a  complete  system  of 
education  for  all  people,  with  special  adaptations  to 
the  needs  of  wage-earners  who  cannot  establish  and 
maintain  private  schools.  Since  wealth  uses  skilled 
workmen  to  make  profits,  it  should  be  taxed  for  the 
training  of  skilled  workmen,  and  it  can  well  afford 
to  bear  the  burden.  It  is  now  a  well-established 
principle  that  the  public  schools  should  prepare 
youth  for  the  shop,  the  mine,  the  factory,  the  store, 
and  they  are  striving  to  meet  this  demand. 

The  movement  to  improve  technical  education, 


j4  Reasonable  Social  Policy 


25 


however,  may  fall  short  of  the  full  aim  of  educa¬ 
tion.  It  is  not  the  sole  or  final  end  of  a  working¬ 
man  to  be  a  useful  tool,  a  part  of  a  machine  to 
serve  the  employer  more  effectively.  The  working¬ 
man  is  a  man,  and  has  all  the  rights  of  a  man  in 
our  heritage  of  culture.  He  has  a  human  right  of 
access  to  natural  beauty  and  the  works  of  art.  To 
him  belong  the  thoughts  of  poets,  philosophers, 
historians,  statesmen,  theologians.  For  these  enjoy¬ 
ments  he  must  be  protected  in  his  leisure ;  he  must 
have  a  legal  limit  to  exhausting  toil;  he  must  have 
a  recognized  claim  to  his  Sunday  rest,  his  hours 
of  domestic  fellowship,  his  periods  for  sleep. 

The  cities  must  open  beautiful  parks  and  play¬ 
grounds  for  rest  and  recreation,  and  for  the  whole¬ 
some  enjoyment  of  children.  Public  libraries,  read¬ 
ing-rooms,  and  art  galleries,  with  competent  and 
interesting  interpreters,  must  be  provided  at  public 
expense.  The  workman  deserves  these  privileges ; 
he  has  toiled  to  produce  wealth;  he  has  risked  his 
life ;  he  has  spent  his  blood ;  he  has  drained  his 
strength  for  social  wealth ;  and  therefore  we  ask 
for  him  not  charity,  but  his  just  rights  when  we  ask 
for  such  means  of  spiritual  satisfaction.  If  the 
wage-earners  are  excluded  from  these  nobler  en- 


26 


Social  Service  Series 


joyments,  nothing  is  left  them  but  crude  animal 
gratifications  which  stupefy  the  intellect,  destroy 
efficiency,  and  unfit  men  for  political  duties. 

It  will  be  noticed  that  we  have  not  here  discussed 
public  and  private  charity.  Our  “  social  policy  ” 
deals  only  with  self-respecting  men  who  own  not 
only  their  own  support,  but  a  surplus  for  others — 
some  of  it  spent  in  luxury  and  guilty  display  of 
waste.  Workingmen  ask  not  charity,  but  justice, 
and  to  discuss  benevolent  societies  here  would  raise 
a  false  issue. 

Nor  do  we  here  discuss  the  important  subject  of 
social  treatment  of  crime,  because  few  real  wage- 
earners  belong  to  the  criminal  class.  They  feed  and 
clothe  society,  while  criminals  prey  upon  their 
fellow-men. 

VI.  The  right  attitude  of  Christian  men  to  such  a 
Social  Policy. 

i.  We  must  come  to  believe  in  our  business  world, 
that  the  entire  people  are  to  be  considered.  When 
a  great  railroad  man  cursed  the  public  and  told  them 
that  they  had  no  right  to  touch  “  his  business,”  he 
stirred  the  blood  of  revolution.  When  another 
conspicuous  leader  of  industry  was  reported  to 


j4  Reasonable  Social  Policy 


27 


claim  that  he  was  deputed  by  the  Almighty  to  take 
care  of  the  rights  of  the  workmen,  independent  of 
their  own  views,  the  claim  was  universally  felt  to  be 
blasphemous  and  anti-American.  We  are  not  going- 
back  to  the  times  when  the  kings  ruled  by  “  divine 
right.”  We  recognize  no  valid  claim  to  private 
property  except  its  service  to  mankind. 

Only  representatives  elected  by  the  people  have  a 
right  to  make  laws  affecting  their  health,  their  com¬ 
fort,  and  their  character.  Corporations  are  the 
creatures  of  law  for  public  ends,  and  when  they  fail 
to  serve  the  public  they  have  no  moral  or  legal 
foundation  for  their  special  privileges. 

Business  men  must  learn  that  they  are  trustees 
intrusted  with  power  and  wealth,  and  that  power  to 
mar  human  bodies  and  souls  can  never  be  left  to  the 
arbitrary  caprice  of  owners  of  property.  Business 
men  cannot  logically  and  consistently  ask  their  em¬ 
ployees  to  be  law-abiding,  while  they  who  assert 
superiority  are  themselves  tax-dodgers  or  tyrants  in 
abuse  of  their  trust. 

2.  Wage-earners,  as  Christian  men,  are  called 
upon  by  every  social  interest  to  look  only  to  legal 
methods  of  righting  wrongs  and  promoting  their 
welfare.  They  must  be  patient,  even  when  courts 


28 


Social  Service  Series 


rule  according  to  ancient  precedent,  rather  than 
according  to  common  sense  and  present-day  require¬ 
ments.  For  the  sake  of  all  that  is  valuable  in  civili¬ 
zation  they  are  asked  to  be  patient  when  legislators 
are  slow  to  change  the  statutes  and  bring  them  into 
accord  with  the  demands  of  our  contemporary  hu¬ 
manity.  Constitutions  seem  to  be  fixed  and  petri¬ 
fied  ;  but,  in  fact,  they  are  living  things  which  grow, 
though  slowly ;  and  while  they  exist  they  deter¬ 
mine  the  decisions  of  judges. 

Appeal  to  force  is  not  to  be  thought  of !  It  is 
the  method  of  ruffians,  savages,  frontiersmen,  and 
criminals.  Between  nations  we  are  learning  to 
organize  justice  by  courts  of  arbitration  and  peace¬ 
ful  discussion. 

Nor  is  appeal  to  force  necessary;  because  history 
proves  that  the  people  in  due  time  can  make  their 
judgments  felt  in  laws,  and  with  universal  suffrage 
the  wage-earners  have  but  to  urge  a  measure  and  it 
will  become  the  law  which  governors  and  presidents 
are  obliged  to  enforce. 

3.  The  teachers  of  the  nation,  as  Christian  men, 
have  a  special  duty  in  respect  to  this  social  policy; 
they  are  set  to  study  and  teach  it.  As  a  nation 
thinks  in  its  heart,  so  it  becomes.  They  who  shape 


j4  Reasonable  Social  Policy  29 

men’s  thoughts  give  form  to  their  deeds  and 
statutes. 

4.  The  church  has  a  duty  in  relation  to  this  social 
policy.  Its  fundamental  idea  is  one  with  the  prin¬ 
ciple  of  Christianity,  love  for  God  and  man;  justice 
between  man  and  man ;  reason  in  law  and  institu¬ 
tions. 

The  church  cannot  enter  politics  and  take  sides 
with  parties,  cliques,  agitators,  or  particular  inter¬ 
ests.  Its  ministry  is  to  all  citizens  alike;  its  doc¬ 
trine  is  for  the  entire  people. 

Nor  can  the  preacher  assume  the  task  of  giving 
instruction  to  mixed  audiences  of  men,  women, 
and  children  on  the  complex  problems  here  out¬ 
lined.  The  time  of  the  sermon  is  too  short,  and  its 
inspirational  value  will  be  lowered  by  details  and 
economic  arguments. 

Yet  the  church  can  be  helpful,  and  chiefly  by 
means  of  the  classes  of  men  and  meetings  of  brother¬ 
hoods,  as  well  as  by  providing  for  lectures  by  com¬ 
petent  specialists  at  proper  times. 

In  an  address  before  the  Religious  Education  As¬ 
sociation,  in  1909,  the  present  writer  has  discussed 
this  aspect  of  the  matter.  Young  men  have  by 
instinct  and  necessity  an  interest  in  physical  energy, 


30 


Social  Service  Series 


in  business  or  industry,  and  in  politics.  It  is  in  these 
spheres  that  they  try  to  do  their  moral  thinking 
and  form  their  religious  character.  When  they  think 
of  righteousness,  it  is  chiefly  in  terms  of  right  and 
wrong  in  sports,  in  business,  or  in  politics.  Hence 
the  most  direct,  easy,  and  natural  way  for  the 
church  to  guide  the  inner  life  of  men  is  to  help  them 
to  discuss  with  all  freedom  the  actual  problems  of 
their  own  lives.  Discussion  is  the  only  teaching 
method  which  produces  educational  results  which  we 
can  test.  It  is  next  to  impossible  to  find  out  whether 
a  man  has  learned  anything  from  a  sermon  to  which 
he  has  listened  passively,  for  he  does  not  pass  any 
examination,  nor  make  any  kind  of  response.  But 
when  he  takes  part  in  a  real  discussion  of  a  prob¬ 
lem  of  the  community,  he  is  all  alive,  creative,  ener¬ 
getic,  forceful,  and  self-revealing. 

Furthermore,  the  class  can  immediately  set  their 
conclusions  into  action  and  report  results.  They 
can,  as  individuals,  undertake  to  help  clean  an  alley, 
open  a  playground  or  park,  defeat  a  scoundrel  at 
the  polls,  or  push  a  desirable  ordinance  through  the 
city  council.  They  can,  as  a  class,  undertake  to 
furnish  probation  officers  for  a  juvenile  court,  or  vis¬ 
itors  to  a  charitable  society,  or  leaders  of  clubs  for 


31 


JL  Reasonable  Social  Policy 

a  settlement  or  mission.  They  can  entertain  repre¬ 
sentatives  of  the  wage-earners  and  give  them  a 
chance  to  tell  their  side  of  the  question. 

But  if  the  church  officers  attempt  to  choke  dis¬ 
cussion,  to  suppress  freedom  of  speech,  the  class  is 
dead.  Young  men  of  spirit  will  go  off  to  some  club 
where  the  atmosphere  is  tolerant.  The  best  cor¬ 
rective  of  error  is  by  discussion,  because  extremists 
call  each  other  to  account,  and  truth  comes  out  of 
the  melting-pot  refined. 

The  church  can  furnish  rooms,  invite  lectures, 
provide  leaders,  without  being  responsible  for  all 
that  is  said.  If  the  spirit  of  the  congregation  is 
earnest,  patriotic,  humane,  the  class  will  feel  the 
inspiration  of  religion  and  the  discussions  will  move 
straight  to  some  useful  service  of  God  in  helping 
man. 

The  development  of  this  modern  programme  in  all 
its  details  is  not  possible  in  a  pamphlet ;  it  is  the 
labor  of  multitudes  of  men  and  women,  in  churches, 
universities,  trade  unions,  legislatures,  editorial 
rooms.  The  materials  for  study  are  found  in  a  vast 
number  of  volumes  of  documents,  records,  reports, 
and  books.  Yet  each  intelligent  citizen  can  con¬ 
tribute  something  to  the  cause  of  promoting  the 


32 


Social  Service  Series 


health,  safety,  comfort,  and  spiritual  enjoyment  of 
the  working  people. 

The  Carpenter  of  Nazareth  is  our  Inspiring 
Leader.  “  Inasmuch  as  ye  have  done  it  unto  one  of 
these  ye  have  done  it  unto  Me.” 


Prof.  John  R.  Commons  of  the  University  of  Wisconsin  says: 
“This  is  the  best  thing  planned  for  the  popular  study  of  social  con¬ 
ditions  before  the  public  today.** 


STUDIES 

IN 

AMERICAN  SOCIAL  CONDITIONS 

Edited  by 

RICHARD  HENRY  EDWARDS 


These  studies  are  meant  fop  busy  people  who  want 
quick  access  to  the  facts  of  social  questions.  They  are 
timed  for  today,  for  thinking  men  who  want  to  know  what  the 
experts  know  about  our  social  conditions. 

Ten  great  problems  are  treated:  Liquor,  Negro,  Im¬ 
migration,  Labor,  Poverty,  Excessive  Wealth,  Municipal 
Government,  Children  of  the  Cities,  Crime,  and  the  Treat¬ 
ment  of  the  Criminal.  Others  will  follow. 

Facts  and  proposed  solutions  are  the  guiding  thoughts. 

Social  workers  in  the  turmoil  of  many  problems  want  to 
hear  the  word  of  specialists  and  to  know  which  way  hope  lies. 
These  studies  tell  them  the  facts  of  the  problems,  one  by  one, 
and  the  effectiveness  of  different  efforts  to  solve  them. 

The  people  in  the  churches  are  no  longer  content  with 
a  worn-out  sociology.  They  are  waking  up  to  the  raw  facts  and 
want  to  know  how  to  go  about  their  great  new  social  work. 
These  studies  suggest  how  to  do  it  by  a  tested  plan. 

Readers  in  public  libraries  are  always  studying  the  ques- 


tions  answered  in  these  pamphlets.  The  librarian’s  efficiency  is 
magnified  by  them. 

College  debaters  will  find  here  a  multitude  of  subjects 
and  references. 

The  Social  Problems  Group  Idea  is  a  tested  plan  de¬ 
scribed  in  Charities  and  the  Commons  for  Oct.  17,  1908,  by 
which,  (1st)  to  get  at  the  facts  of  these  questions;  (2d)  to  com¬ 
pare  the  proposed  solutions,  and  (3d)  to  help  clean  up  condi¬ 
tions.  Men  in  all  walks  of  life,  teachers,  ministers,  social  work¬ 
ers,  professors  of  economics  and  many  others  who  begin  to  see 
the  meanings  of  the  Social  Crisis,  are  taking  up  this  plan. 

What  are  you  doing  about  the  conditions  in  your  town 
which  are  a  shame  to  decent  citizens'?  Why  not  study  those 
conditions?  Why  not  clean  up?  Why  not  form  a  Social 
Problems  Group  in  your  church  or  in  your  club?  Isn’t  this 
the  very  thing  for  church  brotherhoods?  Is  there  a  timelier 
question  than  the  reality  and  extent  of  the  bearing  of  Jesus’ 
teaching  on  each  of  these  questions? 

You  can  study  one  problem  or  all,  few  or  many,  as 
you  will,  and  fit  the  method  to  your  particular  needs.  Each 
problem  is  succinctly  stated.  The  best  material  is  presented  in 
accessible  form  in  carefully  selected  lists  of  references  to  books 
and  magazines.  Every  list  was  prepared  as  a  graduating  thesis 
at  the  Wisconsin  Library  School  with  special  reference  to  its 
practical  effectiveness.  Every  list  is  revised  and  approved  by 
eminent  specialists.  The  material  to  which  reference  is  given 
is  briefly  described. 

These  studies  which  are  in  process  of  publication  are  sold 
at  a  nominal  price,  10  cents  each,  postage  2c,  for  all  except  the 

mir'  ’  _  _  wtii  iywhi  rn  i  aiii  iiuijm  ii  iirfUnTWiri— -i'1*  trtijnr^-iTiv^Vftir  ruti'CT; 


Labor  Problem  which  is  20c  postpaid.  The  entire  series  includ- 

111,11  nr.  i  i  . . im,,  ,,  „  |>||  iimii  in  _-Uj||Mi||ijli|L 

ing  a  reprint  of  the  Charities  article  is  sold  at  $1.15  postpaid. 
One  hundred  copies  of  any  study,  except  the  Labor  Problem,  or 
ten  sets  of  the  entire  series,  will  be  sold  at  $10.50,  postpaid. 
One  hundred  copies  of  the  Labor  Problem  are  sold  at  $18.00, 
postpaid.  Order  from  the  editor,  enclosing  the  cash,  or  from 
Charities  and  the  Commons ,  which  has  united  with  us  in  making 
the  following  combination  offers: 

( 1 )  1  new  subscription  to  Charities  and  the  Commons 

and  one  set  of  the  studies  in  social  conditions  (re¬ 
gular  price  $3.15) ,  our  combination  price . $2  15 

(2)  1  new  subscription  to  Charities ,  regular  price . .  $2  00 
1  copy  of  Bliss’  New  Encyclopedia  of  social 


reform,  regular  price .  7  50 

1  set  of  the  studies  in  social  conditions,  reg¬ 
ular  price .  1  15 


Total  regular  price  for  the  three. . . $10  65 

Our  combination  price  for  the  three  ....  8  15 


These  three  give  you  all  the  material  you  need  for  a  Social 
Problems  Group  (except  additional  copies  of  the  studies)  and  at 
a  rock  bottom  price.  Every  church  and  public  library  in  Amer¬ 
ica  ought  to  have  these  three.  With  them  you  can  have  an  up- 
to-date  group  wherever  you  live. 

Money  for  the  combination  offers  should  be  forwarded  to 
Charities  and  the  Commons ,  105  E.  22nd  St.,  New  York  City, 
or  to  R.  H.  Edwards,  237  Langdon  St.,  Madison,  Wis. 


Prof.  Richard  T.  Ely  says:  “I  think  the  plan  an  excellent 
one  and  I  hope  it  will  be  widely  adopted.  It  should  prove  espe¬ 
cially  helpful  in  stimulating  the  churches  and  organizations  like 
the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  to  wise  and  beneficent  action.” 

Prof.  Edward  A.  Ross  says:  “In  his  Social  Problems 
Group  idea  Mr.  R.  H.  Edwards  has  contributed  the  germ  of  a 
movement  as  individual,  perhaps  even  as  far-reaching  as  the 
circulating  library  movement,  scientific  temperance  instruction  in 
the  schools,  or  University  extension.  Moreover,  not  content  with 
throwing  out  his  idea  he  has  equipped  it  for  victory  with  a  series 
of  Studies  in  American  Social  Conditions,  one  for  each  problem, 
each  a  model  of  analysis,  arrangement,  statement,  and  bibli¬ 
ography-making.  In  view  of  the  fact  that  his  idea  meets  the 
needs  of  the  time,  that  his  plan  has  met  the  test  of  experience, 
and  that  his  studies  are  based  on  a  thorough  and  scientific  knowl¬ 
edge,  I  believe  Mr.  Edward’s  Social  Problems  Group  idea  is  des¬ 
tined  to  play  no  small  role  in  the  civic  enlightenment  of  the 
public.” 

Prof.  Jeremiah  W.  Jenks,  of  Cornell,  member  of  the  U.  S. 
Immigration  Commission,  says:  “It  seems  to  me  that  the  plan 
of  your  course  is  admirable ;  and  so  far  as  I  can  judge  from  the 
pamphlet  on  the  liquor  problem,  you  are  carrying  the  plan  out 
thoroly  well.  I  like  your  general  statement  and  explanation  of 
the  question,  and  the  classified  bibliography  will  be  of  great  help 
to  anyone  who  attempts  to  make  a  thoro  study.” 


